Likeness & Facial Anatomy Course [ArtHeroes, Marlon R. Nuñez (MrNunez)]
- Publisher
- ArtHeroes
- Product Type
- Video Course
- Author
- Marlon R. Nuñez (MrNunez)
- Language
- English
- Duration
- 12:00
- Release date
- Jan 1, 2024
- Skill level
- Project Files
- Yes
- Product Price
- $259
Course Description
Likeness & Facial Anatomy Course by ArtHeroes teaches you how to create high-end photoreal digital faces in ZBrush. You will master facial anatomy, character likeness, realistic skin details, and professional 3D production workflows used in the film and game industry. The course follows a step-by-step process - no eyeballing, no guessing - starting from a simple sphere and building up to a production-ready digital portrait with full Marmoset LookDev presentation.The course is built around a proven, repeatable likeness methodology that eliminates guesswork. Instead of relying on eyeballing or luck, you will learn to analyze a reference photo, understand the underlying anatomy, and systematically build a portrait that captures both the structural accuracy and the personality of the subject.
What makes this course different:
- Anatomy-first approach - You don't just sculpt; you learn why the face looks the way it does. Each facial feature is preceded by an anatomy lesson covering bones, muscles, fat pads, and landmarks across different ethnic groups, genders, and age ranges.
- Start from a sphere - No pre-made basemesh. You begin with a simple sphere and build up using ZBrush's ZSphere and ZWrap tools, learning a production workflow that scales to any character.
- Industry-standard texturing - Full module dedicated to advanced skin texturing using TexturingXYZ multichannel displacement maps. You learn to project high-resolution scan data, blend tileable textures, and control porosity for photorealistic skin.
- Full LookDev pipeline - Covers the complete presentation workflow: BPR rendering in ZBrush, compositing in Photoshop, and a professional Marmoset Toolbag LookDev setup with ray-traced lighting and skin shaders.
- Bonus modules - Extra lessons on Marvelous Designer (clothing), RizomUV (UV unwrapping), Substance Painter (texturing), and fibermesh hair grooming.
What You'll Learn
- Create any likeness starting from a sphere using a proven, repeatable methodology
- Understand essential facial anatomy - skull structure, landmarks, muscles, and surface forms
- Sculpt accurate, believable likeness with confidence using structural knowledge
- Apply advanced skin texturing with TexturingXYZ map projection and porosity workflows
- Master a complete LookDev workflow in Marmoset Toolbag with ray tracing
- Create clothing for your character in Marvelous Designer and texture it in Substance Painter
- Present your character with studio-quality renders ready for portfolio and production
Course Curriculum
Module 0: Plan and Prepare
- 0.1 Planification and Software (19:31)
- 0.2 Looking for the right references. Tips & tricks (36:20)
- 0.3 ZBrush spotlight, cam view and my UI (29:28)
- 0.4 Understanding Focal length and ZBrush cameras (36:30)
Module 1: Skull and Head
- 1.1 Skull anatomy and landmarks (48:50)
- 1.2 Male vs Female skull differences (14:25)
- 1.3 Different ethnic groups - Major skull differences (35:07)
- 1.4 Analyzing MJ face and skull (23:45)
- 1.5 Sculpting the basic head shape Part 1 (57:40)
- 1.6 Sculpting the basic head shape Part 2 (46:24)
Module 2: Neck and Shoulders
- 2.1 Neck area anatomy (23:12)
- 2.2 Sculpting the neck (46:59)
- 2.3 Polishing the neck and volumes (46:24)
Module 3: Nose
- 3.1 Nose anatomy and landmarks (49:02)
- 3.2 Nose in different ethnic groups (14:25)
- 3.3 Sculpting the nose (39:16)
Module 4: Eyes Area
- 4.1 Eye anatomy: eyelids and tarsal plates (37:48)
- 4.2 Lacrimal and Epicanthic fold (24:19)
- 4.3 Upper face fat - Inferior and superior fat pads (25:30)
- 4.4 Upper face fat - Malar, buccal fat, nasolabial fold and glabella area (41:46)
- 4.5 Eye anatomy (27:07)
- 4.6 Sculpting the eyes area Part 1 (56:11)
- 4.7 Sculpting the eyes area Part 2 (42:24)
Module 5: Mouth and Jaw Area
- 5.1 Mouth anatomy (50:05)
- 5.2 Lower face muscles and landmarks (43:20)
- 5.3 Lower face fat (21:04)
- 5.4 Sculpting the mouth (59:14)
Module 6: Ears and Wrapping Up the Basemesh
- 6.1 Ears anatomy and landmarks (14:22)
- 6.2 Sculpting the ears (27:41)
- 6.3 Wrapping up the head basemesh with ZWrap (1:28:24)
Module 7: Tracing with the Spotlight
- 7.1 Using Spotlight - Front view (38:41)
- 7.2 Using Spotlight - Profile view (23:58)
- 7.3 Using Spotlight - Adjusting (1:02:06)
- 7.4 Conclusions before jumping into detailing (03:00)
Module 8: Porosity Using XYZ Maps
- 8.1 Multichannel XYZ displacement maps - Preparation Part 1 (55:58)
- 8.2 Multichannel XYZ displacement maps - Preparation Part 2 (44:23)
- 8.3 Using Multichannel XYZ displacement maps - Projection (1:42:02)
- 8.4 Filling remaining areas using XYZ maps and tileables - Neck (43:59)
- 8.5 Filling remaining areas using XYZ maps and tileables - Using tileables (1:57:54)
Module 9: Detail Pass and Albedo Map
- 9.1 Moving from Intuos to Cintiq for Detailing - Why (57:03)
- 9.2 Custom Alphas (1:28:00)
- 9.3 Detail Pass Part 1 (3:12:24)
- 9.4 Detail Pass Part 2 (2:33:24)
- 9.5 Using ScanStore albedo and ZWrap texture transfer (22:27)
- 9.6 Blending the texture in Photoshop (16:32)
- 9.7 Polypaint inside ZBrush (2:33:09)
Module 10: Hair and Fibermesh
- 10.1 Fibermesh basics (1:43:54)
- 10.2 Combing brushes (56:35)
- 10.3 Creating the eyebrows (1:57:30)
- 10.4 Creating the eyelashes (1:37:31)
- 10.5 Creating the moustache (1:14:47)
Module 11: BPR Rendering in ZBrush and Compositing in Photoshop
- 11.1 Posing and face expression (45:44)
- 11.2 BPR settings (37:28)
- 11.3 ZBrush BPR render and composition (41:05)
Module 12: Marmoset and LookDev
- 12.1 Exporting your character (13:14)
- 12.2 Knald (11:09)
- 12.3 Marmoset set up (57:21)
- 12.4 Textures and shaders explanation (2:19:00)
- 12.5 Caruncle and tearline (1:01:00)
- 12.6 Final conclusion and thanks (1:11:54)
Module 13: Bonus Material
- ARH 2.0 - Bonus Material - Porosity methodology (w/ Fareed Nagy) (4:00:00)
- Combing long hair with fibermesh (Denis Rodman) (3:05:43)
- Creating basketball T-shirt in Marvelous Designer (1:00:04)
- Creating the T-shirt textures with Substance Painter (52:12)
- Tweaking the UVs with Rizom (23:57)
Who This Course Is For
- Intermediate ZBrush artists who want to break into photorealistic portrait sculpting and character art
- 3D character artists looking to master facial anatomy and develop a reliable likeness workflow
- Digital sculptors and modelers who want to create portfolio-ready, production-quality digital faces for film and games
- Self-taught artists who have been guessing their way through portraits and want a structured, anatomy-driven methodology
Requirements
- Skills: Basic knowledge of ZBrush fundamentals (navigation, brushes, subtools). No prior anatomy knowledge required - the course teaches everything from the ground up.
- Tools: ZBrush (main tool), Marmoset Toolbag, Marvelous Designer, Photoshop, RizomUV, Substance Painter (some are optional for bonus modules). A drawing tablet is highly recommended.
- Hardware: Minimum 16GB RAM, dedicated GPU with 4GB+ VRAM, a 3-button mouse, and a drawing tablet (Wacom Intuos or similar).
Software Used
- ZBrush
- Marmoset Toolbag
- Photoshop
- Marvelous Designer
- RizomUV
- Substance Painter
- Knald
About the Author
Marlon R. Nuñez (MrNunez) is a Creative Director and 3D character artist with over 16 years of industry experience. He has worked at Ubisoft, Blur Studio, Electronic Arts, Netflix, and Goodbye Kansas, contributing to AAA games, cinematic trailers, and feature films. He is the founder of ArtHeroes, a professional 3D character art academy, and runs the RenderThat YouTube channel where he shares free tutorials on ZBrush, skin texturing, Unreal Engine, and 3D character creation.
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